Apparatus for manufacturing corrugated inserts, adapted to be used in boxes



F. WIDMER ETAL 2,604,421 APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING CORRUGATED ms ADAPTED TO BE USED IN BOXES July 22, 1952 ERTS,

Filed Feb. 28, 1950 2 SHEETSSHEET l July 22, 1952 F. WIDMER ETAL APPARATUS FOR MANUFACTURING INSERTS, ADAPTED TO BE USED CORRUGATED IN BOXES Filed Feb. 28, 1950 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 corrugations. tions are formed between two toothed wheels 'the corrugations.

Patented July 22, 1952 APPARATUS :FOR MANUFACTURING COR- RUGATED INSERTS,

USED IN BOXES ADAPTED .TO BE Fritz Widmer, Zofingen, and v'I-Iermamn Elmiger, Reiden, Switzerland, assignors to Packmat A. G.,;Olten, Switzerland Application February '28, 1950, Serial No. 146,702 I In Switzerland August 1-2, 1949 '7 Claims. 1

The subject of the present invention is a method of manufacturing corrugated inserts, for example for the reception of articles which are easily broken, such as boxes for ampoules, and a machine for carrying this process into effect. Usually such inserts are formed from a corrugated part and a flat portion secured thereto, an anipoulebeing disposed in each valley in the In a known machine the corrugawhich are inter-engaged. This method of manufacture is, however, not wholly satisfactory, since it is not easy to free the corrugated part from the-wheels, and subsequent'application of the'fiat portion requires special steps for maintaining The present invention aims at avoiding this drawback.

The process according to the invention consists in placing'a fiat'strip of material, for example cardboard, over parallel rods which are advantageously round and are arranged'in'spaced fashion and pressing the same between these rods by means of slidable members. By this means a corrugated strip is obtained to whicha flat strip of material is subsequently gummed.

A machine for carrying out this process has frames in which are arranged spaced parallel rods, and means for passing these frames, advantageously 'in stepwise fashion, through the machine. Provided in this latter are slidable members which are movable transversely to the plane of the frames, which members are for .example operable in a controlled movement by means of .a cam shaft.

The process, and a preferred embodiment of the machine for carrying it out, will now be explained with reference to the accompanying drawings. These show:

Figure 1 a longitudinal section through the machine,

Figure 2 an end view,

Figure 3 a plan,

Figure 4: a longitudinal section through the frame for forming the corrugations,

Figure 5 a transverse section on-theline VV of Figure 4,

Figure 6 diagrammatically the mamier of operation of the machine,

Figure '7 a perspective view of an insert according to the invention.

The machine illustrated in the drawings has a base plate 1 to which are secured two side walls, 2, 3. Arranged on both'side walls 2,'3 is a motor 4. Arranged around apulley Smounted 'on'the motor shaftis a belt 6- which passes over a belt 'bars 35.

pulley l. ,Rigidly connected to the pulley I is a pulley-,8 which is designed to drive a pulley [0 through a beltzfl. The pulley I0 is rigidly mounte'dona shaft H which is rigidly connected to eccentric discs I 2-15. On the discs [3-45 bears therespective end :of a leverlfi, I! or 18. These levers are pivotally-mounted on a shaft [9 and 1carry'at theirother ends in eachcase a slidable member 28, 2!, or 22 respectively. These membersll-22 are mounted inguides23 for vertical sliding movement. Beneath the guides 23 are twoguide rods 24 secured to the side walls 2 and Bearing on the eccentric l2 in each case is a roller 26 of a doublearmed lever 27, which latter is oscillatable between'the walls 2 and 3. The free ends of the two levers 2'! are linked to a carrierZS whichispermanently pivoted into its end position .by aspring 29. A,pawl 30 is connected to .each of the two sides of the carrier, these pawls each projecting externally upwards beyond the plate .I and slidingalong a guideway 31. These pawls30 co-operate with pins 32 which are secured to a frame .33. The frame 33 is constituted by two longitudinal bars 34 and cross- The bars .35, as is subsequently ex-- plained in more detail; .are arranged at apredetermined distance from one another.

The machine operates as. follows:

In order to produce the inserts, a comparatively long strip of cardboard is placed on the rods 35 of the frame33, the foremost end of this strip :36 beingpushed under'the front rod (Figure 4) The frame 33is, as shown by Figure 1, then placed on the base plate I and pushed in the direction of the arrow beneath the guide rods 24, until the first two pins 32 are engaged by the pawls 30. Rotation of the shaft H, which is continuously effected by the motor d, causes the cams In of the discs H to reciprocate the levers 21 in such fashion that the carrier 28, and therewith the pawls' 30, are moved against the action of .the spring 29. In so doing, the pawls 30 pull the frame33 a distance between the walls 2 and 3 necessary for the next operation. It is clearly apparent from the drawing that the levers It to H3 are pivoted bythe cams |31a, Ma and 15a. in such manner that first the slide 20, then the slide 2 I, and subsequently the slide 23, are moved downwards. The frame 33 is located in such a position that the plate 20a secured to the slide 2!) slides exactly betweentwo rods 35. The strip 36 is carried forward by this action and a Wave is produced therein. After the slide 20 has reached its lowermost position, the slide 2| moves downwards and produces a second wave. Durins the period that the slide 20 is moving upwards, the slide 22 is depressed and thereby produces a third wave. The position of the cams l2a, Ha, Ha is such that the two slides 2| also move upwards and thus free the frame 33. At this moment the carrier 28 and the pawls 36 are again controlled by the disc I2 in such fashion that the frame is further advanced in the direction of the arrow by a distance corresponding to the rods. Subsequently to this the cams l3a, Ma and 15a cause movement of the slides 26-22 downwards again, as described above, and the next three corrugations in the strip 36 are produced. This procedure continues until the whole frame is advanced past the slides 20, 22 and the complete band 36 is formed into corrugations.

By means of the following frame 3311 (Fig. 6), the frame 33 is moved further. It slides under a pressing roller 40, on which a strip 4i, made of cardboard or the like and provided on one side with adhesive, is guided. This strip is unwound from a stock roll 42 and led to roller 46 over rollers 43, 44. All rollers are rotatably supported in a stand 46, and through this stand the strip 4! slides and is then provided on one side with adhesive. The roller 40 presses strip 4| on to strip 36, thus connecting these twoparts firmly together. In the frame 46 a cutting appliance 48 is provided; this is controlled in such a way that it severs the adhesive strip 4| at the end of the corrugated strip 36. Subsequently, the strip thus obtained need only be cut to the desired length in order that inserts as illustrated in Fig. 7 may be formed and then laid in a box known per se for taking ampoules or other breakable objects.

Preferably, the roller 40 is vertically displaceable in the stand 46 and is at both ends under the action of a spring 49, these springs acting in addition to the dead-weight of the roller 40, so as to press strip 4! on to strip 36. When strip M has been cut, a free part of it becomes formed under the roller 46 and sets itself somewhat downwards. However, as soon as the foremost bar 35 of the frame 350. is moved under the roller 40, this roller presses the free end of the strip 4| on to the bar 35. In this way, with the progressive movement of the frame 331;, the strip 4| is carried along and stuck on to the corrugations of the strip 36a in the manner already described.

The inserts described need not be only of cardboard, but may also be of synthetic materials, metal, woven fabrics, asbestos, or combinations of any suchlike materials. The pieces 41a, projecting out beyond the strip 36 (Fig. 7) may, as shown by the broken lines, be folded over the corrugations of strip 36 in a suitable manner.

What we claim is:

1. A machine for producing corrugated inserts for receiving and spacing breakable articles, comprising a base, a frame movable on said base, said frame including spaced parallel rods having a cross section the same as that of the articles, said rods receiving a sheet of material from which inserts are to be formed, a, plurality of slidable members movable transversely of said base into the spaces between said rods, means for moving said slidable members individually into the spaces between said rods and for holding said members in said spaces until an adjacent member has been moved into an adjacent space, and means for intermittently moving said frame along said base when all of said members have been moved into said spaces and removed therefrom.

2. A machine for the manufacture of corrugated inserts for boxes, comprising a base, a frame including spaced parallel rods movable along said base, said rods receiving a sheet of material from which inserts are to be formed, a plurality of slidable members movable transversely of said base into the spaces between said rods, parallel guides between which said slidable members are positioned, means for moving said slidable members individually into the spaces between said rods and for holding said members in the spaces until an adjacent member has been moved into an adjacent space, and means for intermittently moving said frame along said base when all of said members have been moved into said spaces and removed therefrom.

3. A machine for the manufacture of corrugated inserts for boxes, comprising a, base, a frame including spaced parallel rods movable along said base, said rods receiving a sheet of material from which inserts are to be formed, a plurality of parallel and slidable members movable transversely of said base into the spacesbetween said rods, means for moving said slidable members individually into the spaces between said rods and for holding said members in the spaces until an adjacent member has been moved into an adjacent space, and means for intermittently moving said frame along said base when all of said members have been moved into said spaces and removed therefrom, said first named means automatically repeating the movement of said members upon completion of the movement of said frame.

4. A machine for the manufacture of corrugated inserts for boxes, comprising a base, a frame including spaced parallel rods movable along said base, said rods receiving a sheet of material from which inserts are to be formed, a plurality of members movable transversely of said base into the spaces between said rods, a cam shaft, means for rotating said cam shaft, cams on said shaft for each of said members, means connecting each of said cams to one of said members, said cams being so shaped as to move said members into the spaces between said rods in sequential order and to hold the individual member in the space into which it has been moved until the next sequentially operated member has been moved into an adjacent space, an additional cam on said cam shaft, and means actuated by said additional cam for moving said frame along said base when actuated by said additional cam, said additional cam being so positioned and shaped as to actuate said means when all of said members have been moved into said spaces and removed therefrom.

5. A machine for the manufacture of corrugated inserts for boxes, comprising a base, a frame including spaced parallel rods movable along said base, said rods receiving a sheet of material from which inserts are to be formed, a plurality of members movable transversely of said base into the spaces between said rods, a cam shaft, means for rotating said cam shaft, cams on said shaft for each of said members, means connecting each of said cams to one of said members, said cams being so shaped as to move said members into the spaces between said rods in sequential order and to hold the individual member in the space into which it has been moved until the next sequentially operated member has been moved into an adjacent space, an additional cam on said cam shaft, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends and having one end engaging said additional cam, a carriage pivotally connected to the other end of said lever, and means carried by said carriage arranged to engage said frame when actuated by said cam and said lever, said cam being so shaped and so positioned on said cam shaft as to actuate said lever and said carriage when all of said members have been moved into said spaces and removeditherefrom to cause said means to engage said frame to move said frame along said base a predetermined distance.

6. A machine for the manufacture of corrugated inserts for boxes, comprising a base, a frame including spaced parallel rods movable .along said base, said rods receiving a sheet of material from which inserts are to be formed, a plurality of slidable members movable transversely of said base into the spaces between said rods, means for moving said slidable members individually into thespaces between said rods and for holding said membersin the spaces until an adjacent member has been moved into an adjacent space, means for intermittently moving said frame along said base when all of said members have been movedinto said spaces and removed therefrom, both said means continuously repeating their movements upon completion of the movements individually accomplished by each of said means, and means for applying an adhesive coated strip of material to the now corrugated strip over the rods to maintain the corrugations in the strip of material.

7. A machine for the manufacture of corrugated inserts for boxes, comprising a base, a frame including spaced parallel rods movable along said base, said rods receiving a sheet of material from which inserts are to be formed, a

7 plurality of members movable transversely of said base into the spaces between said rods, means for moving said members individually into the spaces between said rods and for holding said members in the spaces until an adjacent member has been moved into an adjacent space, means for intermittently moving said frame along said base when all of said members have been moved into said spaces and removed therefrom, both said means continuously repeating their movements upon completion of the movements individually accomplished by each of said means, and means for applying an adhesive coated strip of material to the now corrugated strip over the rods to maintain the corrugations in the strip of material, a plurality of frames being fed manually to said machine and said second named means intermittently moving each of said frames along said base whereby a followingframe moves a preceding frame past the means for applying the adhesive strip.

F. WIDMER. H. ELMIGER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Bossi Oct. 10, 1950 

6. A MACHINE FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF CORRUGATED INSERTS FOR BOXES, COMPRISING A BASE, A FRAME INCLUDING SPACED PARALLEL RODS MOVABLE ALONG SAID BASE, SAID RODS RECEIVING A SHEET OF MATERIAL FROM WHICH INSERTS ARE TO BE FORMED, A PLURALITY OF SLIDABLE MEMBERS MOVABLE TRANSVERSELY OF SAID BASE INTO THE SPACES BETWEEN SAID RODS, MEANS FOR MOVING SAID SLIDABLE MEMBERS INDIVIDUALLY INTO THE SPACES BETWEEN SAID RODS AND FOR HOLDING SAID MEMBERS IN THE SPACES UNTIL AN ADJACENT MEMBER HAS BEEN MOVED INTO AN ADJACENT SPACE, MEANS FOR INTERMITTENTLY MOVING SAID FRAME ALONG SAID BASE WHEN ALL OF SAID MEMBERS HAVE BEEN MOVED INTO SAID SPACES AND REMOVED THEREFROM, BOTH SAID MEANS CONTINUOUSLY REPEATING THEIR MOVEMENTS UPON COMPLETION OF THE MOVEMENTS INDIVIDUALLY ACCOMPLISHED BY EACH OF SAID MEANS, AND MEANS FOR APPLYING AN ADHESIVE COATED STRIP OF MATERIAL TO THE NOW CORRUGATED STRIP OVER THE RODS TO MAINTAIN THE CORRUGATIONS IN THE STRIP OF MATERIAL. 